Marketers have contracted ‘shiny object syndrome’ when it comes to AI, but before they get carried away, they need to consider if it can be trusted, says Jason Warner of SBS.
Advertising has always been quick to embrace technologies that promise better results and greater efficiency. The smarter a tool sounds, the easier it becomes to forget the person at the other end of the decision.
AI adoption has followed that pattern to a tee, moving from curiosity to campaign tool in what feels like minutes. With reports of OpenAI launching ChatGPT ads in the UK, it appears conversational advertising is cementing its place within the media plan. That should make advertisers excited… it should also give them pause.
AI has the power to make media faster and easier to scale because it can sharpen planning and improve spend decisions. For agencies under pressure to do more with less, especially independent shops competing with larger networks, that’s incredible. Used well, AI can level the playing field.
But advertising has been here before. Every time a new technology promises more reach and better targeting, the industry is liable to get carried away and contract ‘shiny object syndrome’. We start asking what can be automated before considering what should be trusted.
A few months ago, Perplexity pulled back from sponsored answers, with trust concerns reportedly at the centre of the decision. For a platform built around answers, that was telling. If users suspect an AI-generated response has been shaped by paid placement, the value of the answer changes and doubt enters the room.
Consumers are already thinking this way. Across the pond a recent Ipsos Consumer survey found that nearly two-thirds of US adults believe ads in AI search would make results less trustworthy. Yet the same research also found that 35% believed AI search ads could simplify the purchase process.
Marketers have their own reasons to be cautious. One only needs to look at the legal claim facing Google over its display advertising business to see how quickly concerns around platform power can become questions of trust. To summarise, people are not inclined to reject AI advertising outright, what they’re asking for is transparency and accountability behind the decision.
That is where trust moves from brand language into performance reality. When people do not trust the environment, they simply ignore the message. If clients do not trust their partners, spend becomes harder to defend and eyes begin to drift elsewhere. Programmatic should take this personally. Our industry has spent years dealing with concerns around opaque pricing and bloated tech stacks. While AI could address these concerns, it can paper over the cracks just as easily.
AI should make media smarter without making it more complicated. That means using it where it has a clear role, such as optimisation and reporting. It also requires keeping human judgment at the centre. AI is a tool, not a strategy and marketers need a stronger barometer for where AI belongs.
If AI is increasing efficiency and reducing waste it has a clear role to play. However, a line is crossed when AI is being used to hide how a decision was made and replace strategic thinking entirely. The same applies to the creative space, where AI can support ideation and testing, but creativity still needs cultural understanding and taste. You cannot automate your way into relevance. In advertising, the work that connects usually comes from people who understand the audience beyond a segment name.
This is where independent agencies have an advantage, with their focus on relationships and specialist knowledge – they cannot hide behind the tech. Instead indies have an opportunity to prove they can use the technology with greater clarity and accountability. That closeness is becoming more valuable as AI makes the media supply chain feel more distant.
Which matters because the next phase of advertising is being shaped by the businesses people choose to place their trust in. Marketers should be honest about where AI is used and where human oversight begins. In recent times, trust has often been spoken of as a soft measure. In the AI era, it becomes key infrastructure and determines whether people engage and whether partnerships last.
We should embrace AI, but acknowledge that if the audience does not believe the message, the shine quickly wears off. So our biggest challenge now is using AI to make advertising clearer and more accountable. If we can do that, trust will become more than the industry’s most valuable currency. It will become the thing that keeps progress moving in the right direction.
Jason Warner is the managing director UK & EMEA at SBS
